Going fossil free: A lesson in climate activism and collective responsibility

Abstract

Colleges and universities already contribute significantly to the fightagainst climate change, but the UN has recently called upon them to do even more.The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that institutions of higher educationplay a unique role in combatting climate change and other structural injustices, notonly by conducting research and disseminating knowledge, but also by fostering aform of collective political responsibility. A philosophical analysis of differentforms of collective responsibility, with specific attention to the Fossil Freedivestment movement, reveals how social position facilitates this contribution moreso in colleges than in other institutions.